Euronews

The US Secretary of State has warned Islamic State militants the international community will not idly stand by.

John Kerry is in Iraq on the start of a Middle East tour during which he hopes to forge a financial and military alliance against the group he accuses of “spreading evil”.

“There is literally no place for their barbarity in the modern world. This is a fight that the Iraqi people must win, but it’s also a fight that the rest of the world needs to win with them. And it’s a fight that the United States and the rest of the world need to support every single step of the way,” Kerry said.

His visit comes hours before a speech in which US President Barack Obama will try to rally Americans behind another war in a region he has long sought to leave.

But it will be hard to placate all the forces in Iraq. Three car bombs exploded on Wednesday in a Shi’ite neighbourhood of eastern Baghad, killing nine people and injuring 29 others.

Sectarian tensions appear as entrenched as ever, possibly worsened by a month of US air strikes on Sunni Jihadists.